Say Hello to our new used vehicle

Hubby and I came home yesterday with a new-to-us-2005 Honda Pilot yesterday. We traded it in for my 2006 Honda Odyssey mini-van.


The goal of our car trade was to get a vehicle with 4wd. The Honda Pilot has 4wd, comparable features and mileage as my minivan, and the extra bonus of a dvd player for use on long trips (only!).

We were both drawn to a 2006 Acura MDX and considered it up to the last minute. It is sportier and sexier than the Honda Pilot, but comparable in all feature aspects except for a vehicle cost of $1000 more. It was our intention to leave the dealership with a trade that didn't cost us more than about $3000, so the Acura would have increased our out of pocket cost by 25%. I am proud of us for selecting the Pilot even though both of us really wanted the Acura. The Honda fits all of our needs and the only reason we liked the Acura is because it looks better.



It is an interesting feeling leaving the mini-van behind. We were so grateful to drive around the nice comfortable mini-van, but we are both super glad to leave it behind too. It feels like we are trasitioning out of baby-dom. We've passed through the years of infant car seats and huge strollers. We no longer need to have a flat surface of the van floor to change diapers on when we are out-and-about. It feels like a little piece of my before-kids life has been restored to me, although I certainly didn't drive an 8-seater vehicle before I had kids. I'm looking forward doing the mom-taxi thing in my new car.

Two Cooks in the Kitchen

Today I thought Scott was working an overtime shift (following his normal shift yesterday) and wouldn't be home until tomorrow morning. I made mental plans for how I was going to survive spend my day with the kids. The OT shift didn't work out and my dear husband arrived home this morning. It was so nice to see him. I love that he's home...and yet, it totally changes how the day will go. Suddenly you have two people planning the Saturday, two cooks in the kitchen.

I was going to take the kids to visit my grandmother. He is scrambling around trying to find a sitter so we can go look at trading in my mini-van for a 4wd vehicle. My van came back from the shop with the news that my tire tread is almost gone and it will be around $800 to buy new tires. He is convinced the only reason my tire tread could be that low after only 40000 miles is because of all the wheel-spinning I've done in the snow....hence the need for 4wd. (Let's not tell him it is really my occasionally abrupt braking patterns.) He figures he can trade in my van for a comparable 4wd vehicle for about 3 grand...so with the nearly $1000 he was going to have to spend on tires it won't be more than a 2 grand hit. Where we are going to get that 2 grand is another question, but I'm trying to stay out of that one.

He did look at my Microsoft Money program and see that we had a ton of cash in checking, but then I downloaded the current transactions and popped that bubble for him. Hey, what are wives for if not to pop their husbands dreams?

So, grandma will have to wait...hopefully a visit tomorrow will work out. Today is about car shopping now. Think good thoughts. I think car dealerships are stressful!